Anyone know how many spokes the Savage rear rim has...possible G model mod?

[Guest]

I've been eyeballing the suzuki savage shaft drive rear rims lately for a possible retrofit to spokes for one of my G model bikes.
-Both GS and savage bikes are shafties so the drive ratio is hopefully close {idk}...
-The savage runs a smaller rim {16" I think} with it's spokes and I'd want to adapt that to an 18" hoop to match the GS G models..."spoke count" is the possible issue here. If lucky {good luck here for a change} I could find a match for the savage drive hub to a 18" hoop.

Anyone have a suzuki savage to know this?

[GS1150Pilot]

36, I believe.

[80GS850GBob]

36, I believe.

Good thing to know - Thanks....now to search a rim that has the same hole count to see if it can be done on that aspect...then to find a savage rear wheel and hope the drive is the same....then search for a spoked front wheel w/dual disc mounts that'll work.....{thank god for the internet!}

[80GS850GBob]

Oooh, Buchanan's makes a 2.75 x 17" Sun rim...didn't know that...figured 18" was the usable norm.
Also, I can't find the scrap of paper that I wrote down what exact year the darn Savage was that had shaft drive and disc brake - maybe I remembered that wrong too...now searching Intruder 1400 drive wheels that have both.
Drive end to brake rotor end surface width is my upfront concern. To add a thin spacer would be ok...but to have to remove width would be dependent on how much metal there is to play with inside the hub on the brake side - wheel offset could be built in...to a point.

[80GS850GBob]

Btw...Intruder rims are 56 count spokes.

[GS1150Pilot]

Intruder is a different bike entirely.

[80GS850GBob]

Yeah, I get these hairbrained ideas...jot something down and loose it, then try to remember my old mindset later on.
I still want to try it....someone has to eventually!

[GS1150Pilot]

Be the trailblazer here!

[Steve]

Good luck with your project, but I can't imagine why you would want a "look" badly enough to add more work to your maintenance schedule (spoke adjustment), not to mention the extra expense of replacing a tube, along with a tire.

Not saying it's a bad idea, but I just don't understand the appeal of that "look".

.

[80GS850GBob]

Good luck with your project, but I can't imagine why you would want a "look" badly enough to add more work to your maintenance schedule (spoke adjustment), not to mention the extra expense of replacing a tube, along with a tire.

Not saying it's a bad idea, but I just don't understand the appeal of that "look".

.

Quite a few of my old cycles were spoke rims, so that's old hat....every once in a while checking the spokes via the tone/ting test.
"Tubes"...that just comes with the territory with spoke rim cycles and Ive already got another ride that uses them due to the nature of the tires on it.
"The look"... I think that's the initial thing that draws us to what we like....adding accents via racks or shields does add practicality, but, a look can add to the experience just as well. Most of the cycles I've previously owned had tail sections - that's part of the look that I like. Those same cycles had spoke rims as well which made the total look package for me. I like the looks of the GS's, especially the early ones....I just want to try to replicate that here with mine, if I can.

Add- I really like kick start cycles too...had a few. But that can't happen here, so sometimes we just work with what we can do.
It's hard to further explain it past that....sorry.

[80GS850GBob]

Got a line on an Intruder rear wheel...maybe the drive too...just in case.
My current concern is the lower shock mount being the same as my GS's, as well as the spline drive and drive shaft, but I'm hoping Suzuki made a "1 fits all" tooling choice. A drum brake set up from a Savage could be an option - the drum would be a throw back in the way of efficiency but we all know the fronts do the majority of the work.
Speaking of fronts...next up for grabs is a wire front wheel with dual disc capability.

[gsrick]

Hate to break it to you, but the Savage has the distinction of being Suzuki's only belt driven model.

Now there are some possible options. C90, Boulevards, Intruders, all had spoke models and are shafties, but they may be too wide to fit. The one I know for sure is a direct fit is the Madura. I've seen guys go the other route and put the GS snowflakes on the Madura. I wanted to spoke my 1000G when I was making it into my Harley killer, "The Bag Lady". I'm now out of that faze.

The Madura

One with the tune fork wheels installed.

[80GS850GBob]

I forgot about the Madura...thanks.
Yeah, this is all arm chair restomods at the moment...too complicated gets it shelved, but alittle research along the way is to be expected.

How wider is the drive assembly...or are you just talking rims/tires? A re-rim was expected in this refit...either 17" or 18" max.

edit= the WWW tires on that bike look great...real vintage feel. I woulda gone with red wheel maybe....

[80GS850GBob]

Ah, the Madura just got knocked out for use....mono shock system - the GS has twin shocks and that would leave no shock mount then.
Moving on....lol....

[Steve]

My current concern is the lower shock mount being the same as my GS's, as well as the spline drive and drive shaft, but I'm hoping Suzuki made a "1 fits all" tooling choice.

Can't tell you anything about the shock mount or the driveshaft, but the spline drive on the new Boulevards, etc. is the same part number as for the GS.

.